10 Things You Might Not Know About Superstar Astronaut Chris Hadfield

You probably saw the YouTube clips earlier this year of the Canadian astronaut and space station commander singing David Bowie or explaining the mechanics of eating in space. But a read-through of his forthcoming book, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, out in October, reveals some interesting nuggets about the superstar spacewalker.

1. Col. Chris Hadfield is afraid of heights. One might think this phobia would be a deal breaker for someone who's spent so many hours in space beyond the confines of the spacecraft, watching the world go by beneath his feet at thousands of miles per hour. Yet, Hadfield writes, peering over the edge of a tall building means "my stomach starts tumbling, my palms sweat and my legs don't want to move." Surprising, perhaps, but Hadfield says that a big part of being an astronaut is coming to grips with the litany of things that could kill you at any moment and dealing with it through incredible preparation.

2. His video demonstrations don't always go right. Hadfield became a space sensation because of his informative, irreverent videos from the International Space Station. Our favorites include Hadfield showing everyone how to make a peanut-butter-and-honey sandwich in space, and what happens when you wring out a wet towel on the space station.

But even Hadfield makes mistakes. During his first ISS mission he made a video demonstration of cutting his fingernails over the air intake so they'd be sucked into it. One problem: He failed to vacuum out the intake immediately, and when the unsuspecting mission commander came to do it later, he released all the fingernails clippings into the station.

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3. He knows Russian. Hadfield served as NASA's director of operations in Russia from 2001 to 2003, where he learned the language, got familiar with the Soyuz spacecraft that would later fly him into space once the shuttle retired, and learned the local customs, including drinking heavily and urinating on a truck tire. Yes, another of the local customs is that cosmonauts are supposed to pee on the right rear tire of the bus that carries them to the launch, "as Yuri Gagarin apparently had," Hadfield writes. Unfortunately for Hadfield, he was leaving Earth for his final mission around Christmastime 2012, which meant going to the restroom required loosening multiple layers of space clothing. It's apparently less of a concern for female astronauts, "who bring little bottles of their pee to splash on the tires."

Astronauts: They're not like you and me.

4. He nearly performed "Rocket Man" with Elton John. Hadfield met the British singer when John's tour crossed paths with a Canadian air show in which Hadfield was taking part. There's only one song an astronaut can rightfully play with Elton John—"Rocket Man"—and so Hadfield rehearsed it on the off chance that Sir Elton granted his wish. It didn't work out, but Hadfield writes that he met up with John and had a nice chat. And many years later Hadfield was performing David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in space in a video that to date has garnered more than 17 million views:

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5. There were no Canadian astronauts when he decided to become one. Watching the Apollo moon landings of July 1969 as a 9-year-old kid galvanized what would become Hadfield's lifelong quest to go to space. But, he writes, "astronauts were American. NASA only accepted applications from U.S. citizens, and Canada didn't even have a space agency." No matter. By 1992, there was a Canadian Space Agency, which accepted Hadfield into the astronaut program.

6. He helped to build the ISS. Speaking of "didn't exist yet," when Hadfield flew into space in 2001, it was to a space station that was not even fully assembled. His crew's mission was to add a crucial piece of equipment called Canadarm2, which remains one of the ISS's key components. It made sense to send Hadfield so a Canadian astronaut could install the Canadian space program's pride and joy.

7. On Hadfield's first space walk, he couldn't see a thing. During the extravehicular activity (or EVA, NASA's name for a space walk) to install Canadarm2, some kind of irritant got in Hadfield's eye and made it water. But "tears need gravity," he says—without it they just stay in place. And you can't wipe your eyes in a spacesuit.

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Through sheer force of will and some vigorous shaking of the head, Hadfield got his sight back and mission control let him continue the mission. It turns out that the "anti-fog stuff" astronauts use to polish their visions is essentially detergent, and Hadfield hadn't gotten all of it off.

8. He's watched lots of people rehearse his death. It's called a "contingency sim." Really, it's a death sim, and it sounds like the most macabre role-playing game around. The NASA team begins with a scenario such as Hadfield being seriously injured on the ISS, he writes. Then they draw "green cards"—random events that change the game. Maybe the card says he has died, at which point the other astronauts and crew members discuss what to do with the corpse in space, how to inform him family, how to deal with the press, and every other contingency they can think of—all while Hadfield sits at the table watching the team rehearse his demise. He argues this is "weirdly uplifting" and not a recipe for depression. We'll take his word for it.

9. He broke into Mir using a Swiss Army Knife. Hadfield's first space voyage, in 1995, traveled to the now-defunct Russian space station Mir. Except, when the space shuttle arrived there, the astronauts discovered that "the Russian engineers had taped, strapped, and sealed out the docking module's hatch just a little too enthusiastically." Further proof you should always carry a multitool, especially when leaving the planet.

10. He can drive a one-man sub. One more way Hadfield is cooler than most: He's qualified to pilot the DeepWorker, a one-man sub that can explore undersea. Today it's mostly a toy for the rich, but "the DeepWorker is an analogue for the kinds of vehicles we may use someday to collect samples on the Moon, an asteroid, or Mars."

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